


Being a Friend

by Steph_R94



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: mild alya salt, mild class salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27674075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph_R94/pseuds/Steph_R94
Summary: Kagami resolves to help Marinette even if it means imparting some hard truths to get her to see the way she should be treated and the way she has been treated are not the same.OrKagami is a friend for Marinette and their relationship does not revolve around their mutual crushes on Adrien.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 158





	Being a Friend

Kagami was worried about her best friend. Often times, when the other girl thought no one was paying attention, she would allow her masks to fade and what it revealed would be…distressing. Marinette’s blue eyes—so full of life and love whenever she first met the girl—would dull with the weight of a thousand burdens that Kagami couldn’t even begin to name.

So, Kagami had begun to be a little risky. She would win quickly in fencing practice and then walk, depending on her level of concern—jog, to Marinette’s. Kagami could hear the whispers of the people who came to watch the fencers’ practice; she had seen the shame on the faces of those Marinette had called friends. She knew Marinette was alone; a vapid harpy had been isolating her, circling around her friends, and swooping down to prick at her skin whenever she tried to get close. And Kagami knew the wounds were only pricks. She had faith in her friend’s stalwart nature.

But that didn’t mean she would leave Marinette to stand on her own. Marinette, for all of her strengths, could not shoulder the world in the same way Atlas could; and Kagami had begun to suspect that she was trying to anyway. After all, with the prolonged exposure came hints that Marinette was leading a double life. The flash of red in a pot filled with purple flower, the sound of another voice echoing from her room just before Kagami knocked on the trapdoor, and the small kwami Kagami was certain was not a hallucination peering up at her friend from inside her purse with large, concerned blue eyes whenever she thought Kagami was more lost in thought or more distracted than she really was.

Her friend was always happy to see her whenever she poked her head through the opening of her bedroom. Marinette was always happy to spend time with her, to be distracted by the stories Kagami had to share. She was always so happy to never talk about herself or her day no matter how tactfully Kagami asked.

Kagami decided, after a week of enduring Marinette’s false positivity and aching smiles, that enough was enough. While Kagami had accepted that Marinette could not share all of her burdens, she refused to let Marinette be beaten down by the most obvious one she could do something about.

“What do your friends give you?” Kagami asked bluntly as she entered the pink bedroom of her best friend. She hadn’t planned this conversation, but she had overheard Sabine and Tom worrying as she entered the bakery. For the first time in weeks, it sounded like Alya had visited…but only to ask Marinette to make her a dress for some event that her friend had gotten her tickets too. An event that Kagami was certain was made up because _she_ would have to attend.

“What?” Marinette asked as she set aside the pencil she had been using to draw some design or another. In any other moment, Kagami would have been delighted to see that her friend had gotten her creative flow back; but because it was for that “reporter” child, Kagami’s delight was lessened by the clear indicator that Marinette was being taken advantage of.

“What do your friends do in return for your gifts?”

“The point of a gift is that you don’t expect anything in return,” Marinette argued. Kagami snorted.

“Yes, but a thank you is nice, is it not?” Kagami retorted as she moved over to where Marinette sat. She tapped the sketchbook with her fingertip. “You have designed for this girl before. I have seen you hand her your gift. She does not thank you. She only takes and takes and very rarely gives in return. In fact, this a trend that is present in all of your friends. You stand up for them and they scorn your efforts to protect them from that vapid harpy that anyone with a brain between their ears could determine is false.” Kagami wished she was like Marinette, that she knew how to tactfully bring the truth to the table, but that was not a talent her mother had sought to nurture in her daughter, and perhaps it was the harsh truth that Marinette needed to hear. “Can you really say in confidence that they behave as friends should?”

“I..” Marinette opened her mouth to argue for her so-called friends. Kagami waited for her to find the words. She had said her original piece; what came next would depend on Marinette’s answer. Because that was how conversations worked. “Friendships, relationships in general, aren’t always rosy. Like when learning how to fence, you learn how to be a good friend.”

“Of course, but shouldn’t they learn from their mistakes? Do you really wish for their experience to come at your continued expense?” Kagami sat down on the small stool she had beside her chair.

“No,” Marinette said it quietly. “But I don’t want to lose them either.”

“Forgive me because this will hurt, but haven’t they already decided you are an acceptable loss?” Marinette flinched as if visibly struck. Kagami frowned, but pressed forward. “Correct me if I am wrong, but they constantly berate and dismiss you when you try to point out her lies. Lies that are potentially harming to their futures." Marinette bit into her lower lip and seemed to sink deeper into her chair. "They do not stand up for you against others or when it would count; they do not bother to find the truth and make excuses when their choices hurt you." She seemed to be getting smaller. "They do not listen to what you have to say and steam roll your opinion. And they do this to you so continuously that their treatment of you is known throughout your school. Do they sound like friends that are learning from their mistakes?” Marinette shook her bowed head.

Kagami was uncomfortable with hugs, but Marinette looked genuinely like she needed one. Marinette had curled into herself completely. Those large blue eyes were peering up at Marinette through the opening in her purse once again, but Kagami only noted her presence in favor of reaching for Marinette. Kagami gently straightened Marinette with a hand on her shoulder and stepped into her space. Her arms came around her in a hug. Marinette tensed against her but she made no move to leave her hug. “You are the one that taught me how to be a friend. So, why would you accept anything less from those around you? Even if you lose them, you will not be alone and friendless. You have me.” That last part was a quiet, timid whisper that she cursed, but vulnerability was acceptable here. “You have your parents and I am certain there are others. Do not close yourself off. That is true loneliness.”

If Kagami had not been so close to Marinette, she would have missed the shaking of the girl’s shoulders, but there was no hiding the tears that started to wet the shoulder of her blazer as Marinette buried her head against it. _‘Perhaps, you have already tried to close yourself off,’_ Kagami realized. _‘No matter. I will not let you try again.’_

X

“Hey, it’s Kagami!” Adrien’s voice startled Marinette as they walked down the steps. He rushed past Marinette in favor of the Japanese girl at the end of the stairs. “What are you doing here? We didn’t have practice today.”

“I am not here for practice,” Kagami told him. He blinked.

“Ah…well, I didn’t think we were going to do anything today. I don’t have a spot cleared on my schedule, but I am sure I can sneak away--”

“That will be unnecessary. I am not here for you.” Adrien’s mouth dropped open; the gasp he pulled in through his teeth told her that her tone was a little too dismissive, a little too much like her mother’s. She looked over at him now, but she could see him already closing off to her. She raised her hand to his cheek softly. “I have already made plans with Marinette; otherwise, I would be delighted to join you in rebellion.”

“Oh.” The hurt ebbed from his eyes as he looked back to Marinette. Kagami’s eyes narrowed as she watched Adrien take in the slump of Marinette’s shoulders, the way her hand just barely skimmed the metal railing as if she were ready at any second to grasp it tight to keep herself upright. His shoulders slumped minutely. _‘So, he knows.’_ Something similar to fury bubbled up inside of her. Protectiveness, the urge to rage. She stamped it down. She would take him to task later on his inaction.

The one called Alya and Sausage Links mounted the top of the stairs and started their descent as Marinette came to the final step. “I will call you later,” Kagami told Adrien as she stepped up Marinette. She did not look over her shoulder as the model climbed into his limo.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Priorities, Marinette,” Kagami reminded her. “I made plans with you. I will not cancel them because of a boy.” She felt no shame at the volume in which she informed Marinette of this; it achieved her desire. The one called Alya tensed as if called out. “Now, what was it you wanted to do today?” She asked in a more respectful volume.

As Kagami turned her eyes away from the girls at the center of the steps, she noticed that Marinette’s cheeks were a vibrant red. _‘She is unused to people standing up for her.’_ Kagami would remedy that.

“I didn’t really have anything planned aside from hanging out and maybe getting ice cream? But…there’s this art mural I think you’ll appreciate. I mean I’ve only seen it in pictures, but they say it’s really neat and I think you’ll like it too.” Marinette sounded hesitant.

“Do you wish to see it?” Kagami asked. Marinette nodded. “Then that is all you have to say. I will be happy as long as we stop by that ice cream place.” Marinette giggled.

“Deal.”

As it turned out, the mural was exactly Kagami’s tastes. It was a beautiful rendition of Ryuko, her alternative identity. She stood strong with her shoulders squared. Her sword was driven down as if into the pavement. Her brown eyes scorched the world she viewed. It captured her intensity well. “The artist that did it says that it’s going to be a series. He’s already painted Ladybug and Chat Noir on walls facing opposite one another somewhere in the city. He leaves clues at each mural about where to find the next. See?” Marinette came over and pointed to the brick just underneath the hilt of Ryuko’s saber. Kagami put the spoon back into her ice cream and leaned forward. Indeed, just underneath the hilt, there was a small scale the same color as Viperion’s suit with a name underneath.

“What is that?” She asked. “He’s already signed it down here, so what is that name?”

“Supposedly, a street name.” Kagami looked back to Marinette and was charmed to see her eyes gleaming. “But it could be anything. A restaurant, a street, a billboard. He gives really obscure hints in each mural and makes it like a scavenger hunt to find the next mural.” She was so excited that Kagami couldn’t help but be infected by it. “I’ve been following his painting on Instagram to try and get a feel for where the next one would be, but it’s just so hard. He could be anywhere in Paris!” Marinette trailed off. “What?”

“What?” Kagami repeated.

“You’re smiling.”

“It is nice to see you so excited, that’s all.” Kagami said. Marinette blushed slightly. Kagami chose not to tease her about it and motioned for them to move out of the way of other admirers. “Do you have any ideas about where the next mural will be?” She asked once they were far enough away from the crowd to be considered alone.

“Is it arrogance to think that it’ll be on my parent’s bakery?” Marinette asked as she scooped her chocolate chip ice cream onto her spoon.

“Not if you have proof,” Kagami hummed as she did the same as Marinette. Her blue raspberry ice cream had started to get soft around the edges as they had walked. 

“My mom and dad have been acting really strange,” Marinette explained. “They’ve never really cared about all of the clutter at the side of our store, but they’ve been cleaning it away since yesterday. They even power washed the bricks early.”

“That does sound suspicious.”

They made the loop back toward Marinette’s bakery. The mural of Ryuko was at least nine blocks away from her house. It warmed Kagami that Marinette had wanted to share it with her, even if she didn’t know that Kagami herself was Ryuko. Still, she wondered how Marinette had found it. “Which mural was Ryuko’s hint on?” Kagami asked.

“Oh, Chat Noir’s!”

“That is strange, wouldn’t it have been Carapace’s? Since the heroes appeared as Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rogue, and then Carapace?”

“He actually hasn’t done Rena Rogue or Carapace yet.”

“He is certainly painting the superheroes is an unorthodox manner.”

“Maybe he’s going by his personal favorites?”

If Kagami blushed even a little bit, Marinette didn’t comment. “Regardless, thank you for showing it to me.” Kagami said as they stopped outside of her bakery. Her driver was already parked outside; a check to her phone confirmed that he had not been waiting long.

“Of course.”

“If it is not too troublesome, do you think you could take me with you to find the other murals?” Kagami asked. Marinette beamed.

“It won’t be any trouble at all! I had a lot of fun today!” Marinette bounced on her feet. “Besides, if I’m right, we won’t have to go far for the next one, will we?” Kagami giggled.

**Author's Note:**

> I may do Luka's reaction to the Viperion mural later on.


End file.
